The "Untouchables" of India

India is a fascinating, ancient country, and I love it. I've only spent three weeks of my life there, but something about the vibrancy of the culture, and the open, loving people draws me to it.
However, it is also a country of great need. The caste system has a 3,000 year history in India, and although it is technically banned by modern Indian law, its effects are still felt by the worst victims of the caste system - the untouchables, or the dalits (doll-eets).
The ancient tenants of Hinduism roughly divided Indian society into four groups: the brahmins were the priests, the interpreters of sacred scriptures; the kshatriyas were the warriors and rulers of society; the vaishyas were the merchants, and the sudras were the manual laborers and artisans. Placement in the caste system determined one's worth.
Sometime in the last 2,000 years, yet another category was added to this schema - an entire group of people was considered to be below the lowest tier of the caste system, and these were the dalits (also popularly called "untouchables" because the upper castes believed that even stepping in the shadow of a dalit caused one to become contaminated). Dalits were treated less than human, and this social evil continues today. In many villages, dalits cannot draw water from the well, own farmland or send their children to school where they would intermingle with children from upper castes. They also face violent discrimination at the hands of others. This is a very real problem. In many cases, these people simply do not have rights.
Please try to learn more about the dalits and share what you learn with family and friends.

Numbers: There are approx. 250 million dalits in India today.
That is 25% of India's population.

Learn more: @ DFN.org (Dalit Freedom Network). The DFN works on the ground in India, and their purpose is to provide healthcare and education for dalits, as well as work towards economic development and social justice among this oppressed people.

Sponsor an Indian child: through Compassion International. It's only $32/month, and it will change the child's life! There is definitely no shortage of kids in India that are in need of what sponsorship provides (food, schooling, etc), plus, you get to write letters back and forth and build a relationship with your sponsored child. Hey, it's ending poverty for one child, and that's one step towards ending poverty, period.